Selling Suxin Pavilion

The conversation had reached this point, so the servants couldn’t very well force the sick Princess Consort of Qin out of bed. They had no choice but to grit their teeth and escort Quentin Lin back to the Marquis’s residence.

The Marchioness had been lying in bed, feigning illness and waiting for her son to return. When she heard someone enter, she perked up, thinking it was Alexander Hayes—only to realize, to her horror, that it was that little troublemaker Quentin Lin!

“Marchioness, I heard you’re sick again. I’ve come on behalf of my sister and our parents to check on you,” Quentin Lin said, his smile pure and innocent. But in Madam Lou’s eyes, it was downright chilling.

The terror of being treated by Quentin Lin years ago flashed through Madam Lou’s mind, turning her face ghostly pale...

Quentin Lin didn’t return to Evans Manor until evening. Lily Evans didn’t ask much about what he’d done at Weiyuan Manor, but ever since Quentin’s visit, Madam Lou had finally quieted down. No longer did she send people to Evans Manor every day under the pretense of illness, which was a huge relief for Lily.

Time flew by, and the seven-day holiday was almost over. The next session of the elementary mathematics class was about to start, which meant Lily would be back to her routine of teaching at the academy every day.

Meanwhile, White Dew had purchased two mountain peaks. Alexander Hayes sent selected soldiers, dividing them into two groups to clear the land. Construction was expected to finish in two months, and then spice cultivation would officially begin.

During these days, Lily made time every day to learn the art of disguise from White Mask Five, and her skills improved by leaps and bounds—she could now make masks on her own.

This made Lily quite pleased. Now, whenever Su Yu’s mask broke, she could make a new one herself—no more bothering White Mask Five.

But as for the other skills in disguise—like bone-shrinking techniques—those had to be practiced from childhood. Clearly, Lily was too old to start, so she had to give up on that idea. She decided that if she ever met someone suitable, she’d pass on the complete art of disguise.

Over the past few days, news of Princess Mira being swindled by foreigners had spread like wildfire through every street and alley—absolutely everyone knew about it.

Princess Mira felt trapped, stuck between a rock and a hard place. She stubbornly claimed that William had just gone off to gather money and would soon return. So, day after day, she waited at Suxin Pavilion for the foreigner to show up and pay her.

Curious onlookers flocked to watch the spectacle—Princess Mira sat inside, stretching her neck in anticipation, while the crowd gathered at the door, enjoying the drama.

Everyone saw that the foolish princess was actually waiting for the foreigner to come back and pay! Was she really that gullible?

Finally, Princess Mira decided to just accept her fate. Since the whole world already knew, she figured it was better to salvage what she could, so she mustered her courage and went to the Capital Constabulary to file a report.

The staff at the Capital Constabulary saw Princess Mira arrive and couldn’t help but snicker. They didn’t even need her to explain—everyone already knew the story.

Princess Mira filed her report and went home to wait for news, hoping the Capital Constabulary could catch the foreigner and recover her losses.

Unfortunately, she’d reported too late and provided too little information about the foreigner. The Capital Constabulary said there was nothing they could do—they simply couldn’t catch him.

Princess Mira was left utterly dumbfounded.

Not only had she lost her spices, but her last thousand taels of private silver were gone too. The only bag of Sichuan peppercorns left had grown moldy from careless storage.

Princess Mira was on the verge of tears. How was she supposed to scrape together enough silver to redeem her dowry and betrothal gifts?

Just then, a passerby offered a suggestion: "Don’t you still have Suxin Pavilion? Sell it, and you’ll have the money!"

It was as if Princess Mira had grabbed onto a lifeline. The very next day, she posted an announcement to sell Suxin Pavilion.

Bella Bell lingered in front of the announcement, read it, then turned to look at Suxin Pavilion with a sly, knowing smile…